UK Mortgage Approvals Lowest In 8 Months
(RTTNews) - UK mortgage approvals decreased to the lowest level in eight months in March despite home buyers rushing to complete the transactions ahead of the rise in stamp duty, official data revealed on Thursday.
Mortgage approvals decreased 800 to 64,309 in March, the Bank of England said. Approvals for house purchases, an indicator of future borrowing, decreased for the third straight month.
This was the lowest since July 2024 but remained above economists' forecast of 64,000.
The 'effective' interest rate, the actual interest paid, on newly drawn mortgages decreased by 3 basis points, to 4.50 percent in March.
Consumer credit decreased to GBP 0.9 billion in March from GBP 1.3 billion in the previous month. Economists had forecast consumer credit to fall to GBP 1.2 billion.
Annual growth for all consumer credit weakened to 6.1 percent from 6.4 percent in February.
In March, businesses borrowed GBP 1.8 billion compared to a net repayment of GBP 0.5 billion in February. Large companies borrowed GBP 1.7 billion and small and medium sized businesses borrowed GBP 0.1 billion in March. Today's data suggest households were starting to spend more cautiously even before the full hit to consumer confidence from the heightened uncertainty caused by the new US tariffs regime is felt, Capital Economics economist Ashley Webb said.
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